Category: Terrorism

The internet has been abuzz with the concerning news that ISIS has released a list of US military personal and calling on radical Muslims to attack them. The solution to this problem is simple – Arm our service members…

Contrary to the ISIS claim that the list of service personal released was obtained by hacking military servers, in actuality the list was most likely gleaned from military press releases using nothing more advanced than Google. In all actuality, it is very trivial for someone with even the most basic Open Source Intelligence skills to find out a ton of information on a person including where they live using Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) programs.

The problem with open source intelligence is that the information discovered is not always accurate or up to date. This is apparently what happened as instead of ISIS releasing the address of a Navy pilot, listed the address of a home owned by an elderly couple.

The solution to this problem, as related to me by a retired high level special forces member, is simple. “I think they are seriously underestimating the people they are targeting,” he said. “Many of us have combat experience… and are armed.”

US service members put too much personal information on social media websites and the military releases too much information about troops and what they are doing. In addition to scrubbing this information from websites (which could help but may not be totally effective) the solution is simple. Make it legal for and provide for those targeted with arms!

In the name of political correctness base security has been altered to make them more “civilian friendly”. It is time again to allow our troops on base to carry weapons. Also those service members who have been publicly listed by ISIS should be immediately provided a conceal carry permit for the state that they are in (if they do not already own one).

“Home grown” terrorists will think twice before taking on armed US military personnel.

Suicide VBIED or Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device have been a favorite weapon of terrorists for decades. Since the first VBIED used against the American barracks in Lebanon in 1983 to the 9/11 attacks, terrorists have been looking for new ways to use vehicles to spread terror.

It now looks like they are now turning to remote control.

The captured video above from NavySeals.com shows a new weapon in the terrorist’s arsenal, the remote control VBIED. (Note: As there is no translation to the video above, I am not certain of its contents.)

As we have seen from headline news, vehicles packed with explosives can be very deadly.

See the ATF VBIED blast damage chart below:

Adding remote control capabilities to these weapons is very concerning. There are jamming devices that block IED signals, and the military already has several tactics and procedures to deal with VBIEDs.

But hopefully the DHS and military will take this discovered threat seriously and work to create additional ways to defeat them.

Elite French special operation RAID Police took down the radical Muslim terrorist Mohamed Merah on Thursday. Like the scene out of a Hollywood movie, Merah wearing a black robe and a bullet proof vest, actually counterattacked the police assault to end the 32 hour siege at his house.

“It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen someone, as we launch an assault, launch an assault against us“, said Amaury de Hauteclocque the leader of the RAID police force.

Merah, a self proclaimed Al-Qaeda terrorist died in the shoot out with police after going on a killing spree that included three french soldiers, and four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse, including a 7 year old girl. He was tracked down, believe it or not, by his IP address.

According to Reuters, Merah contacted one of his first victims, a French soldier, on the pretext of buying his scooter. From this communication, investigators were able to match Merah to his IP address. He was already under surveillance due to suspicious behavior that included trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. On one trip he was arrested by Afghan police and detained by US Forces. He was placed on the United State’s No Fly List.

You have to admit that social media sites are great for keeping in touch with friends and family and also to find friends that you haven’t seen in a long time. Kids that go off to college and your friend that moved out-of-state or out of the country are just a webpage away.

It is exactly this function of social media sites that is allowing terror groups to communicate, especially to singular operatives, according to The National’s coverage of a Saudi counter-terrorism conference.

The “Forum on the Role of the Internet in Fighting Terrorism and Extremism” held in January, was attended by counter-terrorism experts from around the world including officials from the United States, UK, Germany, and Russia.

The main goal of meeting was “to discuss how to use the internet to counter the extremist message of groups such as al Qa’eda, which has sought to justify violence by claiming that the West is at war with Islam.”

Of major concern was how to combat the use of social media sites to recruit and communicate with single, lone wolf terrorists:

Marc Sageman, a Washington-based authority on Islamist extremists, noted that the internet has contributed to an increase in so-called “lone wolf” acts of terrorist violence carried out by individuals.

This is because individuals shy about discussing their extremist views in person can easily find like-minded people on the web through chat rooms and forums. Through these virtual contacts, individuals gain enough confidence to carry out violent acts.

The internet has allowed “a conversation between disconnected, scattered people which was not possible before,” Mr Sageman said in an interview.

The consensus of the meeting was that governmental groups would have a hard time reaching and discouraging would be terrorists using the internet. But the Saudi’s believe a group of tech savvy, young religious Muslims who are against violence, would be much more effective in communicating and discouraging other impressionable Muslims.

And so far, according to the article, the Saudi’s have been using this technique with relative success.